The first scheduled flight to deport people seeking asylum in the U.K. to Rwanda was canceled at the last minute Tuesday night after a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights.
or in the backs of trucks, to Rwanda. The government said it wanted the plan to serve as a deterrent to people smugglers who traffic humans into the U.K., but the announcement drew outrage from rights groups that said the policy was cruel and undermined the global refugee system.
A Boeing 767 sits on the runway at the military base in Amesbury, England, June 14, 2022, preparing to take a number of asylum-seekers to Rwanda.The European Court of Human Rights issued its ruling at 7:30 p.m. In it, the court said no one should be deported to Rwanda until the United Kingdom's own high court issues a ruling on the legality of the government's policy. That decision is expected next month.
Despite leaving the European Union, the U.K. is still a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, meaning U.K. cases can still be heard by the European Court of Human Rights. When his government announced the plans for the U.K.-Rwanda program, the United Nations refugee agency told the BBC that it"strongly condemns outsourcing the primary responsibility to consider the refugee status," and said the policy would be"an egregious breach of international law and refugee law."